Singapore foundation unveils 'happy coffins' to challenge taboos

Singapore - A Singapore charity on Tuesday unveiled three colourful coffins designed

by hospice residents as part of its campaign to challenge taboos surrounding dying and death.

The Lien Foundation said it initiated the "happy coffins" project to transform the coffin from a symbol of fear,

dread and grief into a life-affirming expression of art.

"I am not afraid to talk about my eventual departure," said Elsie Chua, one of the hospice residents who teamed with

Singapore artists to design her personalized coffin.

"It is very meaningful to be able to shape the design of my coffin and see it before I die," she said.

The initiative, which encourages more people to have a say in the design of their coffin,

is part of the foundation's Life before Death campaign, which highlights the need for better care for the dying.

"We have designer clothes and chocolates, so why not designer coffins that better reflect our unique lives, personalities and dreams,"

said the foundation's chief executive Lee Poh Wah.

"The individual life story behind each personalized coffin will be a poignant talking point at funerals," he said.

Suicide attack kills Afghan deputy governor, four others

Kabul - A suicide bomber on an explosive-laden motorcycle struck a convoy of provincial officials in southern Afghanistan Tuesday,

killing a deputy governor and four of his companions, officials said.

Mohammad Kazem Allahyar, the deputy governor of Ghazni province; his son; two of his nephews;

and a guard were killed in the attack in the provincial capital, also called Ghazni, said Zamarai Bashary, spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

"Mr Allahyar was en route to his office when the bomber targeted his vehicle in the convoy," he said.

Taliban militants took responsibility for the attack in an online statement but said that no one was riding the rigged motorcycle when it exploded.

The militants rely heavily on the use of roadside and suicide bombings as part of their campaign against Afghan forces and US-led international troops in the country.
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Vietnam charges police chiefs in drug case

Hanoi - A former police chief and his deputy in Vietnam's Central Highlands have been charged in the disappearance of cash and gold in a drug-trafficking case, a police official said Tuesday.

Nguyen Cong Chuc, 56, and Tran Duc Thinh, 44, former officials of the Buon Me Thuot city, were charged on Monday with "negligence of professional responsibility."

The charges concern the seizure of cash and gold worth over 5,000 dollars in a 2005 drug bust which subsequently disappeared.

"We have suspended them from work," said Huynh Hue, director of the Dak Lak Provincial Police Department. "Whether or not they go to jail depends on the People's Supreme Procuracy's investigation."

The newspaper Thanh Nien reported the case stems from an incident in August 2005, when Buon Me Thuot police arrested four drug traffickers. Police seized 30 packets of heroin along with four taels (150 grams) of gold, a gold chain, a gold ring, and 17 million dong (over 1,000 dollars at the time).

In his report, Bui Vu Quoc Trong of the anti-drug police division, who led the arrests, stated police had seized only the heroin and 800,000 dong in cash.

In 2007, Dak Lak police inspectors reviewed the case and found Trong had faked the signatures of his superiors Chuc and Thinh on the report. In 2008, Trong was sentenced to three years in prison.

What happened to the missing valuables has never been clarified.

If convicted, Chuc and Thinh could face up to 12 years in prison.